The 30 best quarterbacks in NFL history
By Randy Gurzi
9. Best NFL quarterbacks of all time: Steve Young
Now inside the top-10, we had Steve Young who had to wait a long time on the bench with the San Francisco 49ers but made the most out of the years he did play for them. He also had an interesting path to the NFL as Young originally played in the USFL for the Los Angeles Express.
He had success there and was the first quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a game while also rushing for 100, but the league was falling apart. He ended up getting out of his contract after two seasons and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had secured his rights in a supplemental draft.
His play wasn’t good at all with the Bucs as he threw 21 interceptions and only 11 touchdowns during two seasons. Considered a bust, the Bucs shipped Young off to the 49ers and selected Vinny Testaverde. Young spent the next four seasons as a backup to Joe Montana but took the reins for good in 1991 when he filled in for an injured Montana and had a great season.
Showing off his legs and arm, Young completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 2,517 yards with 17 touchdowns and eight picks in 10 games. He continued to grow as a player and started to use his legs even more despite being over the age of 30 when he finally got his chance with San Francisco. In 1994, he won his second NFL MVP Award and topped it off with a Super Bowl ring and MVP.
In 13 seasons with the Niners, he had 3,581 yards and 37 touchdowns to go along with his 29,907 passing yards with 221 touchdowns. That more than made up for his slow start to his career as it ended up landing him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.